Handel In Ireland

On 14 September 1741, after 23 days of non-stop industriousness, George Frideric Handel finished composing his majestic oratorio, the Messiah, which can lay claim to being one of the most celebrated large-scale choral works in all of Western music.

In 1742 Handel went to Dublin at the invitation of the Duke of Devonshire, to give benefit concerts to fundraise for local hospitals. The Messiah was premiered in the New Music Hall on Dublin’s Fishamble Street on 13 April 1742. Back in London, Handel also performed it in order to raise funds for the Foundling Hospital, which was such a success that it became an annual event.

primephonic offers no less than ten recordings of Handel's Messiah in high resolution downloads, from WAV to FLAC. Such renowned world-class performers include the Bavarian Radio Choir, together with the B'Rock Belgian Baroque Orchestra Ghent conducted by the remarkable Peter Dijkstra, the London Symphony Orchestra with the Tenebrae Choir under the baton of Sir Colin Davis and the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and Toronta Mendelssohn Choir conducted by Sir Andrew Davis. One of the most outstanding Messiah recordings of recent years was of the Dunedin Consort directed by John Butt with their Gramophone award-winning 1742 Dublin version of the work.

The Messiah remains one of the major iconic choral works of the past three centuries.

Edward Elgar was a towering pinnacle amidst the barren plains of English Romanticism. Because of his fame both at home and abroad he was able to act as a two-way emissary in a way that no British composer had before.

This year sees Bang on a Can celebrating their 30-year anniversary. These pioneers began performing in a new un-classifiable style, and now, 30 years later they grace the Royal Albert Hall with a concert at the BBC Proms.